I Love You
by Hitotsune-Kozo
Summary: This is an AU story. It's Christmas Eve and Korra is home from college for the holidays. She came out as a lesbian to her family earlier in the year, but not many people outside the family approve of it. She becomes upset, and gets comfort from a surprising person, with surprising (or not) results. Rated T.


**DISCLAIMER:** I do not the Legend of Korra, Avatar the Last Airbender, or anything related to it, including characters. This fanfiction is intended only to entertain and amuse.

**Author's Note:** This is the second of my Christmas-themed one-shots, and my first Legend of Korra fanfic. This is for Starbuckviper, since Korra and Asami is her favorite pairing. This fanfic is an AU that takes place in the modern world, with Korra and Asami being normal people. Kirima is the name of Desna's twin sister, and is a popular fan name for the as-yet-unnamed girl.

**Legend of Korra**

**I Love You**

Korra was sitting on the snow-covered picnic table in the backyard of her parent's house, the glow from the lights in the house casting long shadows in front of her. In the house behind her, the Christmas party was still going on; she could hear the holiday music, though it was muffled by the closed sliding glass door that led to the backyard. She was actually sitting _on_ the table, with her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms wrapped around her shins. The tears had stopped falling, though the knees of her jeans had small spots on them from where her tears had soaked them. _It just isn't fair_, she thought, taking a ragged breath. She felt like an exposed nerve and, in spite of the fact that she'd stopped crying five minutes ago, knew that it wouldn't take much for her to start again.

The afternoon, actually the whole day, had started out pretty well. Korra and her parents, Tonraq and Senna, had done some extra Christmas shopping after breakfast - they'd actually finished buying and wrapping presents over a week ago, this was just little things for the party that evening - and had then gone to eat lunch at a place that specialized in traditional Christmas food (but only around the Christmas season). She had enjoyed this time with her parents; being a college student wasn't easy, but she had passed her exams with excellent scores. She hadn't been able to come home for Halloween (not that that was a holiday given a 'break'), and had barely managed to make Thanksgiving. She hadn't seen her uncle, Unalaq, or her cousins Desna and Kirima, since Christmas last year (they lived on the other side of the country, after all). Her uncle was a state governor, and had a lot of responsibilities to attend to, so she wasn't upset about that. What had had her nervous this time was that, while visiting her parents during the summer, Korra had told them she was a lesbian. To their credit, Tonraq and Senna had taken the news in stride, questioning their daughter gently about it. When they confirmed that it wasn't just a phase she was going through, but a genuine and honest fact, they simply told her that, no matter what her life choices, they were her parents and would always love her. The nervous part of it all came from the fact that this was the first time she would see her uncle and cousins after telling her parents about herself. She assumed her parents had talked about it with Uncle Unalaq, and knew that her cousins would undoubtedly have found out from him. Unalaq had been like a mentor to her, offering advice and help on things if she had trouble of any sort.

As things had turned out, it was her the family friends that had been invited to the party she should've worried about. Uncle Unalaq had been accepting, if not approving, of her sexuality. Her cousins had used the knowledge to tease and make fun of her, which had hurt a little, but they'd made sure she knew they were only playing which had lessened the sting from their words. Everyone else, though, was thoroughly disapproving. For of their claims of open-mindedness, her parents friends apparently weren't open-minded enough to accept the fact that Korra preferred to be with women. No one said anything outright, of course, but there were the looks and subtle comments and slights, the looks in her direction followed by snide chuckling or giggling. Then she'd overheard someone saying, "Well, it looks like Tonraq and Senna won't be getting any _real_ grandkids now," and that had done it for her. She'd walked up to the man who'd said it and slapped him across the face. Hard. Hard enough that she _knew_ he would have a bruise for a few days.

"You can say what you want about me," she'd said quietly into the stunned silence following her action, "but don't you _dare_ slight my parents in any way." Then she'd grabbed her coat and gloves and, slipping them, walked out into the backyard.

No one had come out after her, though she had heard the sound of a car leaving and knew that her parents had asked the man and his family to leave. Her butt was now cold from sitting on the snow-covered picnic table, and began thinking about going back in; she'd been outside for over ten minutes. Just then, though, she heard the sound of the sliding door opening.

"I was just about to come back in, Mom," she said.

"That's good to hear," a different voice said, "but I'm not your mom."

Turning around, she was surprised to see Asami Sato, the daughter of her father's boss. Her father worked for Future Industries, the company that Asami's father owned; FI was dedicated to the research, development, and manufacture of futuristic technologies that were better for both people and the environment. Asami was only a year older than she was, but she was already out of college and working for her father's company. She climbed up on to the table and sat down next to the still distraught young woman.

"It's nice out here," Asami said. "The snow covering everything makes the whole world seem pure and innocent."

"Too bad that's just a fantasy," Korra replied, her voice cracking a little from the hurt and sorrow she was feeling.

"But that's the best thing about it," the raven-haired woman told her. "It's a fantasy, and fantasies often become hopes and hopes become dreams." She looked over at the brown-haired woman. "I know it's not easy."

"What isn't easy?"

"Being a lesbian."

"Wait, what?" Korra's brain locked up on those last three words for a few second before making the connection to Asami's words before that. "_You're_ a lesbian, too?"

"Well, actually, that statement would apply more to you than me, since I was a lesbian first," she replied with a chuckle, bumping Korra's shoulder with her own. That drew a small, strained chuckle from the other woman. It wasn't much, but it was an improvement over the whole evening since the party began. "At least your parents don't care about your sexuality," Asami told her. "My father refuses to acknowledge my sexual preference and keeps finding 'appropriate' young men for me to date." She sighed. "He doesn't like the fact that his bloodline won't go past me, even though the family name will. And that comment that was made about your parents never going to have real grandkids was just cruel and disgusting." She chuckled again. "I was impressed with your restraint, though."

"Restraint? I slapped him hard enough to get a bruise started right there!" Korra objected.

"True, but if someone had made a comment like that in relation to me I wouldn't have stopped with the slap," was the reply. "I wouldn't have stopped until someone had pulled me away and the offending person was curled up in a ball on the floor. I . . . had some anger issues a few years ago."

"Is there something wrong with being gay?" Korra said, sighing, her head resting on her knees now. "Is there something wrong with me?" She was surprised when she felt Asami put an arm around her and looked up at the other woman.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay," she said. "And no way in hell is there anything wrong with you. Being a lesbian is part of who you are, not what you do. If other people don't approve of or accept that fact about you, then that's their problem, not yours. We're always told to be ourselves, and then people judge us when we are. The only difference between a homosexual person and a heterosexual person is the choice of partners; that's it."

"Can I ask why you're out here with me instead of in there having fun?" Korra asked.

"To be honest, I wanted to follow you out right when you walked out," Asami replied, blushing a little in embarrassment. "Your parents told me to wait before they kicked the guy and his family out. After that, they said to just give you some time alone. Actually, they wanted to come out here, too."

"So why didn't they?"

"Well, for one, they _do_ have a party to host, though they wouldn't have cared about that. Second, I convinced them that it would be better for me to come and talk to you instead of them, since I've had first-hand experience at coming out to people and their reactions to that."

"So why did you want to come right out after me?" Korra asked, causing her to blush again.

"Isn't it obvious?" Asami asked rhetorically before answering the question-like statement. "I like you. I like you a lot. To be honest, I've liked you for a while now.

"Just . . . just how much do you . . . like me?" she asked nervously.

"Too much, Korra. Too much."

"I . . . I feel the same way, Asami."

"What?" The shocked response slipped out before Asami realized it, drawing a more lighthearted giggle from Korra.

"I like you too much, too," she replied. "I always have, I guess, though it wasn't until just now that I realized why. I liked you even before I realized that I was lesbian. I just didn't know why, then."

"And now you do?" the other woman whispered, her question answered by a nod.

"Yeah, I do. And . . . I want to get to know you better. I've never had a girlfriend, and I did try a boyfriend once."

"Which is how you figured out your sexuality?"

"Well, once I started going to college, I began to suspect I was gay once I realized I was checking the girls out more than the guys. Then I was asked out by this cute guy, but on every date we had, every time he went to kiss me, I found myself turning my head so it landed on my cheek. So, after he broke up with me, I did a lot of serious thinking-"

"-And realized that you were a lesbian," Asami finished.

"Pretty much," Korra replied.

"Well, um, would you . . . be _my_ lesbian?" the black-haired woman asked nervously. Then she was surprised by a gentle kiss on her lips.

"If you're asking me to be your girlfriend," the brown-haired girl replied, "the answer is yes." With a happy smile, Asami returned Korra's gentle kiss, which went on for a couple of minutes.

"Come on," Asami said. "Let's go back inside and rejoin the party."

Korra meant to say, "Alright, let's go," but what came out instead was, "I love you." It was hard to say who was more stunned, Korra (who'd said it) or Asami (who it was directed to). Korra began stammering and stuttering, trying to say something, before the other woman silenced her incoherent ramblings with another, more passionate but just as gentle kiss.

"I love you, too," she said. As they got off the table, she held out her hand for Korra to take. She took Asami's proffered hand, and intertwined their fingers together. _This Christmas seems better already_, they both thought as they walked back into Korra's parents' house.

**E/N:** A couple of people who'd read my Kim Possible Christmas fic, "Everything," asked me to do a chaptered story telling about how Kim and Shego ended up at that point (they asked in PMs). And I've already begun plans not only for a 'lead-up' story to "Everything," but a 'follow-up' story as well. So I'm asking at the end of this fic, if any of y'all would like to see a follow-up to this (since I'm not really sure a 'lead-up' could be done). Let me know what you think.


End file.
